Improved drawer or till alarm



F. H. PURINGTON.

Drawer or TH Alarm, No. 45,435. l Patented Dec. 13. 1864.4

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK H. FURINGTON, OF VVILLIMANTIG, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVED DRAWER OR TILL ALARM.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 45,435, dated December 13, 1864.

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, F. H. PURINGTON, of VVillimantic, in the county of Windham and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved Drawer or Till Alarm 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speeication, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section of my invention, taken in the line x a2, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a transverse vertical section of the same taken in theline yy, Fig. l; Fig. 3, a detached plan or top view ofthe tumblers and bolt pertaining to the same; Fig. 4, avertical section ofa portion ot' a counter underneath which the drawer or till slides, z z, Fig. l indicating the line of section Figs. 5 and 6, detached side views of tumblers pertaining to the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to obtain an alarm mechanism for a drawer or till constructed and arranged in such a manner that an alarm not only will be sounded in case an attempt is made to open the drawer or till illegitimately, but a lock mechanism,vwhich is combined with the alarm, will eiectually prevent the opening of the drawer or till, so that the proprietor of a store will not depend upon the alarm solely to guard against pilt'erers, but will also have thelock which is provided with tumblers to aid in preventing such mode of thieving.

A represents a drawer or till, which is fitted between cleats a a underneath the counter B in the usual or any proper' way.

C represents a bell which is attached to a bent arm, l), projecting down from the counter, and is directly in the rear of the drawer as shown in Fig. l.

E is the bellhammer, the rod b of which is attached to a bar, F, which is keyed on a rod, c, thelatter beingfitted in bearings d d, secured to the under side ofthe counter B. The bar F has a spring, G, attached to it, which spring has a tendency7 to cause the hammer to strike the bell after the former has been forced back, as hereinafter described. On this rod c there is placed loosely a bar, H, which is provided with a lateral arm or projection, d, the latter lapping over the bar F, as shown clearly in Fig. 4.

To the under side of the counter B, directly in front ofthe bars F H, there is an angular or bent bar, I, which is fitted loosely on a rod or shait, c, as shown clearly in Figs. l and 2, and in front of the bar I there is attached to the under side of the counter B a pendant., J, the lower end of which is of double-inclined form, and has flanges ff projecting laterally from it ofthe same shape, as will be understood by referring to Figs. 1 and 2. The above-described parts comprise all of those which are secured to the counter, and I will now proceed to describe those which are attached to and connected with the drawer or till A.

K represents a framing which is perma nently attached to the bottom of the drawer or till, and is composed of two parallel sides, g g, connected by cross-pieces and rods h.

L represents a series of tumblers, which are tted between guides z in the framing K and are allowed to slide freely therein. These tumblers have each a spiral spring, M, connected to them at one end, and each tumbler is notched at both edges, as shown at j, in Figs. 5 and 6. Besides these notches j, two other notches, k I., are made in one edge of the tumblers, and a notch, m, made in the opposite edge atthe ends opposite to that where the springs M are connected.

N represents a series of levers which are tted on a fulcrum-rod, n, at the bottom of the drawer or till. The upper ends of these levers N are fitted in the notches j in the lower edges of the tumblers L, and the lower ends are connected by rods O to iinger-pieces P at the under side ofthe drawer or till A, near its front end. (See Figs. l and 2.) Five tumblers are represented in Fig. 3, but more or less may be employed, as desired.

Q represents a halt the upper end ot' which is provided with a lateral projection, n, and a horizontal plate, o, having a pendent flange, p, at one edge. The main portion or stem ot this bolt is iitted loosely in cross-bars q of the framing K, and is allowed to slide freely up and down therein, as will be understood by referring to Fig. l.

R represents a plate which is fitted on a' rod, r, in the framing K, and extends downward underneath the tumblers L, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. This plate R has a rod or arm, s, projecting from it at about its center. (See Fig. 2 and dot-ted lines in Fig. 1.)

The operation is as follows: Suppose, for instance, the drawer or till A to be closed or shoved entirely in or underneath the' counter B and the bolt Q to have an upwardposit-ion, it being thus held by the ange p resting on the upper edge of one or more of the tumblers L, as shown in Fig. 1. New, in case aperson should attempt to pull out the drawer or till A with the bolt Q in this elevated position, the latter would strike the bar H, and in con sequence ofthe arm or projection d of said bar lapping over the bar F, the latter will be aetia tt d or thrown upward, and when released the spiing G will force the hammer E in contact with the bell and give the alarm. The drawer or till, however, cannot be drawn out, in consequence of the bolt Q coming in contact with the bar I, the upper end of the latter bearing against the pendant in which it is hungY or pivoted. ln order, therefore, to open the drawer it is necessary to lower the bolt Q so that its upper end will clear the bar or stop I. T his is effected by moving the tumblers on whichthe flange p of the plate, o of the bolt Q rests, so that the notches la, which are in the tumblers, which support the bolt in an elevated state, may be brought in line with thenotchesm ofthe other tumblers, and thereby admit ofthe bolt dropping the requisite distance.

The tumblers which support the bolt in an elevated state are inverted, so that the notches k will befuppermoshwhile the others have their notches 7c underneath. It will be seen, therefore, that the tumblers are susceptible of quite a number ot'ehanges, as more or less of them may be inverted, as desired.

The tumblers are actuated or moved through the medium of the ngerpieces P, rods O, and levers N, and the springs M, the latter giving the return movement.

The diiiiculty in opening the drawer or till by the uninitiated consists in the ignorance of the position of the inverted tumblers, as

only these should be moved in order to allow the bolt Q to drop. It' any one of the others be moved, their notches l will catch over a rod, t, in. the framing K, and the springs M cannot draw them back, and the bolt Q in that case cannot be dropped or lowered byv actuating the :linger-pieces I, and a key, S, must be inse1ted through the bottom of the drawer or till to act against the rod or arm r and throw up the plate R, which will raise the tumblers L so that their notches l will be free from the rod t, and the springs M can therefore drawthem back. Thus it will be seen that if a thief attempts to open the drawer or till, he will not only sound the alarm, but by actuating the wron g tumblers, which he would invariably do, the drawer would be locked so as to require the key S to unlock it.

Thereis another importantfeature connected with the lock mechanism, which consists in raising the bolt Q after it has been lowered to admit of the opening of the drawer or till. This is effected by the lateral projection n of the bolt catching over the inclined ilange fot' the pendent bar J, said ilange raising the bolt so that the springs M may draw the inverted tumblers L back underneath the ilangep. TLe

two inclined ilanges ff are necessary in case thebolt Q should be casually lowered While the drawer or till is open, the ilangef elevating the bolt when the drawer is shoved inward. the bolt Q shoves up the bars I H, as they are allowed to swing freely inthe direction to admit of that result, so that the bolt may pass them.

I would remark that in cases where the locking of the tumblers may not be required a rod may be passed through the lower part of the framing K to keep the tumblers ott' from the catch-10d t. This rod is shown in re'd and in the act of being inserted in Fig. 2.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The "ertieally-sliding bolt Q, in combination with a series of tumblers, L, arranged with springs and notches in the manner substantially as shown, to operate in connection with a bell-alarm and stop I, for the purpose specified.

2. The pendant J, provided with the two inclined flanges ff', in connection with the lateral projection 1t on the bolt Q, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. `The notches m Ic l in the tumblers L, in connection with the catch-rod t and the plate R, all arranged as and for the purpose specitied.

FREDERICK H. PURINGTON.

Witnesses.:

M. M. LIVINGSTON, THEO. TUscH.

In shoving in or closing the drawer 

